Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Received 9 good eggs this afternoon from a eastern x brooks pairing. This has been my first attempt at ever breeding kings.

those eggs look bad.
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I still don't need no spell chack.

I was thinking the same thing. Except you can clearly see a blood vessel in a couple of them. Maybe the lighting is giving them the yellow tint.

that hatched perfect babies, wait n see Tom Stevens
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TomsSnakes.com

I gotta' say, they don't look too great!,...but definitely keep them incubating and see.......don't be real disappointed if they go bad within a couple weeks,...... but I hope they are good for ya!!

good luck!

~Doug
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"Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!"

Congrats on the clutch! They are not the nicest looking eggs i have ever seen, but i think they might be good.

Keep them cooking and let us know if they hatch out.

~ Mike Russo

I thought because of their size that they were good, but then again I 've never had king snakes lay eggs before. I'll keep them cooking and see what happens. Thanks all.

I wouldn't count them out.
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3.6 L. getula californiae - 5 eggs (Cal. King)
1.1 L. getula nigrita (MBK)
1.0 Pantherophis guttatus guttatus (Corn)
1.0 Pituophis catenifer catenifer (Pacific gopher)
3.3 Elgaria multicarinata multicarinata (Cal. Alligator Lizard)

n/p
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3.6 L. getula californiae - 5 eggs (Cal. King)
1.1 L. getula nigrita (MBK)
1.0 Pantherophis guttatus guttatus (Corn)
1.0 Pituophis catenifer catenifer (Pacific gopher)
3.3 Elgaria multicarinata multicarinata (Cal. Alligator Lizard)

Were eggs laid in very wet medium or are you misting them directly? I know when comdensation build up in my egg containers and drips they get those little blisters or ulsers. Yours just seem to have an abundance of them.

They were laid in sphagnum moss. It could have been too wet but I didn't think so. It had been sitting for several days before she laid in it. I havn't spayed it at all but have placed the eggs in the incubator with a vermiculite/perlite mix. I did allow them to air out a little in case they were excessively moist.

They look fat and healthy, but kinda ugly! Maybe it is the picture, lighting, etc. Hope they go the distance for you.
Think of the times you’ve found snake eggs out on nature. Even here in swampy south Florida, I have only ever found them in what I would describe as fairly dry but humid rotting wood. Either in hollow rotting log, stump or under or within a pile of bark like you see in a foot thick ring of shedded bark pieces around the base of a tree. Way drier than most incubators set up with moistened vermiculite. And often in the same conditions that seem to favor those big fat red bull ants too. How often could it be that snakes find the perfect spot that will remain properly moist and constant perfect temps for fifty days just by instinct? I guess it does happen a lot, or maybe the eggs often make it in less than optimal conditions.

The pic pretty much shows them exactly how they look, a little discolored with "blisters" for lack of a better word.

looks like what would normally be the flush/smooth part of what would othrwise be a normal looking egg!,....it's the REST of the egg that has the weird "calcium" problem!....sort of like the surface of the moon with all the irregular craters!LOL

Again, I hope they do make it for ya!

~Doug
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"Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!"

I never would have thought have that!! Thanks for the info. She ate like a beast before she bred. COuld this be caused by a calcium deficiency or is it just "one of those things" that happens sometimes. There has to be a reason why. Thanks for that insight.

Your welcome!, glad I could help.

I don't think she was deficient of calcium since she was scarfing down all those rodents, as they are what gives the snake all of it's calcium, but maybe she doesn't process it correctly for whatever reason!....who knows the real reason why.

But, yes things like this happen quite often, it's part of the snake breeding game!LOL

best regards, ~Doug
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"Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!"

If they DO go bad this time around, don't give up on her being able to have perfectly good viable eggs in the future!
She could go on to be the best breeder ever!, you never know these things, this is very common to have bad eggs one season, and good the next, and vise-versa!

good luck! ~Doug
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"Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!"

Thanks Doug!! She is too good a snake to give up on even if the eggs don't make it. She eats like a champ, has a great disposition, and is the offspring of two N.C. wild caught easterns.